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12 May 2014

A Healthier Lunch Option + a Recipe

“This shop is part of a social shopper marketing insight campaign with Pollinate Media Group® and Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, but all my opinions are my own. #pmedia #FlavorforLess http://my-disclosur.es/OBsstV”

You all know I've been on sort of a fitness journey the past few months. It wasn't easy at first, but after about a month, the exercising got much easier. And I actually started enjoying it!! I've had my gym membership for almost 4 months now and I've been very loyal about going at least 4 days a week! *pats myself on the back*

But the healthy eating part? Isn't go as well. I have talked about this before, but guys, it's really tough for me. I'm kind of a carboholic, and I drink soda like it's going out of style. I'm not kidding.

Here's the thing, I just don't like a lot of healthy foods. There, I said it. I guess I know where my kids get it from, huh? ;-) But there is one go-to food that I always start eating in abundance whenever I get on a healthy kick. Salad. Any of kind of salad, really. I could always go for a salad, and it's a much better alternative than the greasy hamburger I generally crave.

Recently, I think I found my very favorite lunch option.

Greek Quinoa Salad, oh my goodness, SO good. I'll be honest, though, when I said that I drink tons of soda, I should carlify that I usually drink regular soda. I'm not a big fan of diet, just isn't sweet enough for me. But, I was delighted to find out that Safeway carries TEN calorie soda's now! They aren't loaded with as much sugar as regular, but they still taste delicious! You can get 10 calorie A&W, Sunkist, Canada Dry, and 7-Up! Now I can get my bubbly soda fix without feeling quite so guilty about it.

I'm a huge fan of the A&W TEN. To me, it literally tastes no different that your standard A&W, so score with only 10 calories! And currently, if you visit the Just For U website, you can get a coupon for a free 2 Liter of any flavor of the TEN calorie products.

And because there's no way I could post a picture of this salad without sharing the recipe, I've included it for you so you can make it yourself!

INGREDIENTS:

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 teaspoon Dried Oregano

1 Garlic clove (smashed and finely chopped to a paste)

1 cup Quinoa

2 cups Red Grape tomatoes (halved)

1/2 of a Cucumber (diced)

1 small Red Onion

Feta Cheese (for sprinkling)

Salt & Pepper (to taste)

*A lot of Greek Salad recipes call for Kalamata Olives. I leave them out, but if you like them, add 1 cup!

DIRECTIONS:

In a small bowl, wisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, oregano, garlic and some salt & pepper. Slowly add in the oil until emulsified. Let it sit at room temperature while you prepare your salad.

Rinse your Quinoa in cold water. Combine Quinoa and 2 cups of water in a small sauce pan and bring to a boil. Lower heat to a simmer and cover. Cook until all the water is absorbed. It usually takes about 15 minutes.

That looks so good minus the cheese. Not a fan of feta but it would probably be just as good with mozerella. Yum! I'm going to have to try the Root Beer. It's the only soda I drink but only drink it when eating pizza. I'm not a huge soda fan but I just can't eat pizza without soda. It seems so wrong.

Oh my gosh... I can't even get over how delicious that salad looks! I'm going to have to make a big batch + bring it to work for my lunches! Thanks for the brilliant idea ;) And while I'm shopping for the ingredients for the salad, I'll also have to grab some of those A&W Ten's!

I'm with you on not liking a whole lot of healthy foods. I drink Pepsi like it's my life blood and mashed potatoes are my best friend. Is it bad that the salad still doesn't look good to me? I won't eat tomatoes or onions. I've never even tried quinoa salad, because in all honestly, I'm scared to try new foods. I'm a horrible creature of habit. But, I do like salads (just without the tomatoes). I need to eat more of those.

Bravo to you for trying healthier options though. Maybe one day I will break out of my sugar loving' shell too...